Steven Soderbergh conjures up Magic Mike

LOS ANGELES - Watch what you say around Steven Soderbergh. A casual conversation about a former job could up as the revealing theme to an R-rated movie.

Mission: Improbable, you say? Ask Channing Tatum.

He was filming Haywire with Soderbergh when the director overheard the actor talking about his brief stint as an 18-year-old stripper in Tampa, Florida.

One discussion led to another, and before Tatum could say, 'Now, wait a minute', Soderbergh persuaded him to develop a screenplay that eventually became, Magic Mike, which opens in theatres June 29.

In the Soderbergh movie, Tatum, is, of course, Magic Mike, the star of an all-male revue at the Xquisite Club in Tampa, where the wildest performers just might be the female patrons.

When Mike convinces a newbie (Alex Pettyfer) to show his stuff during a performance, it sets off a series of events that underscores the onstage, and offstage, antics of the strippers, who live on the edge.

For fans of the extracurricular macho activity, there are plenty of nearly nude dancing moments with Tatum moving and grooving. He's joined by Pettyfer, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash, Adam Rodriguez and Matthew McConaughey, who plays the slick owner of the club, hoping to set up shop in Miami with his crew.

As an accomplished Step Up dancer, Tatum leads the way. The others followed as best they could after a three-week crash course in bump 'n' grind male stripper style.

Pettyfer, who had his break out last year in the sci-fi flick, I Am Number Four, admits that everybody but Tatum just hoped they wouldn't embarrass themselves. "We aren't dancers and so we were trying to get to the point where we looked like we could entertain," he says.

True Blood series regular Manganiello agrees, but is more succinct. "Chan (Tatum) was dancing," he says. "We were dry humping."

And, for a change, McConaughey takes off more than his shirt in one scene near the climax. "Ï was very nervous," says the actor who co-stars in the crime thriller The Paperboy out in November. "But after doing it once, I wanted to get up there and do it again."

It turned out McConaughey was so convincing that the crowd of female extras really did get out of control, leaving their seats to swarm the actor on stage during his sexy gyrations. One exuberant woman even ripped off the actor's thong before the director said, 'Cut.' "Matthew had to do a tuck and roll to get out of that situation," recalls Soderbergh.

Mind you, the cast knew what they were getting into when they signed up for the challenge. "We understood going in that it would always be an exercise in commitment," says Bomer, who stars in the cable series White Collar.

So, it was unnerving mentally as well as physically. But the director says that their devotion was impressive. They worked out constantly, and ate mostly salads to stay fit. "They ate like rabbits, they were so disciplined," he says. "Maybe it was fear."

Whatever it was, they banded together like brothers. "I respect these guys for jumping into a thong with both feet," says Tatum. "Every person just went for it."

So, how much of Magic Mike is based on Tatum's real-life adventures?

He did live with his sister in Tampa as an 18-year-old, he says. He did juggle three jobs at once, including working as male dancer, earning $600 a week for almost a year. And, yes, he did dress in drag as Marilyn Monroe - he shows up in the movie briefly as Marilyn - for a friend's birthday party.

Other than that, the plot is fictional, and maybe even a little lighter than his experiences.

"I enjoyed performing for a while, but it's a very dark world, and (Magic Mike) is the most palatable version of it," Tatum says.

Still, Soderbergh wanted to offer more than a titillating R-rated romp. To that end, he shows some sequences exposing the dancers offstage indulgences. He also tried to make their circumstances mainstream.

"I wanted the characters to have a lot of conversations about money and work," he says. "It's an issue everybody understands; what are you willing to do to get paid?"

Certainly, Magic Mike caps quite a year for Tatum, who co-starred in the aforementioned Haywire last winter. He was also featured in the romantic drama The Vow with Rachel McAdams. He starred opposite Jonah Hill in action comedy 21 Jump Street this spring, and has a cameo in the upcoming G. I. Joe: Retaliation.

Meanwhile, Magic Mike fits into Soderbergh's smaller-is-better philosophy after directing the Ocean's trilogy with George Clooney. Last year, he released Contagion to good reviews. The spy thriller Haywire with Tatum did OK, and now there is the modest-budgeted Magic Mike, funded partially by Soderbergh and Tatum.

In fact, they've enjoyed each other's creative company enough to embark on a third film together called The Bitter Pill. It's a crime thriller set for release in 2013.

"We do have a very easygoing relationship," says Tatum of Soderbergh. "It's been great."

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